— A Ford 12V battery recall has closed a federal investigation which was opened following complaints of battery failures.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened its initial investigation after complaints from drivers of 2021 Ford Bronco Sports.
Those drivers complained the engines lost power and the electrical systems failed while driving, typically after the Bronco Sports had stopped at stop signs/lights.
On top of those failures, Bronco drivers complained they could not restart the vehicles which stayed dead on the roads. Dealers diagnosed the problems as the 12-volt batteries.
A few months later Ford recalled nearly 457,000 model year 2021-2024 Ford Bronco Sport and 2022-2023 Ford Maverick vehicles for 12V battery failures. For dealers updated the body control module and powertrain control module software.
Ford also removed the existing 12V "enhanced flooded battery" for new 2024 Bronco Sports and replaced them with stronger "absorbed glass mat" batteries. However, driver complaints continued to be filed.
Ford owners complained the recall-repaired vehicles didn't seem very repaired because drivers were supposed to receive warnings of impending battery failures, but that wasn't happening.
So in November 2024, NHTSA opened an investigation into the Ford 12V battery recall.
In January 2025, Ford announced another 12V battery recall for nearly 273,000 model year 2021-2023 Bronco Sport and 2022-2023 Ford Maverick vehicles. The new recall required dealers to replace all the 12V batteries with absorbed glass mat batteries.
Engineers discovered 12V enhanced flooded batteries supplied by Camel contained internal manufacturing defects that caused the batteries to fail. Ford also found previous software updates had not worked as planned.
The new 12V batteries are supplied by Clarios which so far are working as intended.
NHTSA has closed its Ford 12V battery failure investigation but will continue to monitor battery failure complaints submitted by Ford owners.